True Blue: White Unionists in the Deep South during the Civil War and Reconstruction w/ Clayton J. Butler

On this edition of Parallax Views, Clayton J. Butler joins us to discuss his book True Blue: White Unionists in the Deep South During the Civil War and Reconstruction. Butler explains how certain contingent of Southerners, for a variety of reasons, chose to remain loyal to the North during the Civil War and Reconstruction period. The reasons for this, however, may surprise modern audiences. It was not necessarily that these Southerners were against slavery. In fact, some supported the North because they believed that the war would bring about the end of slavery as an institution in the South. Meanwhile, others were "True Blue" due to an understandable resentment for the plantation aristocracy which sought to exert oligarchic control in the South. In our conversation we delve into all of these issues as well as why the topic, particularly when it comes to Unionists in the Deep South, is often underdiscussed or left relatively unexamined amongst many historians. We also discuss the "Lost Cause" narrative/myth in the South as well as the importance of discussing the Reconstruction period, which saw many gains for black freed men who'd formerly been enslaved by Southern plantation owners, after the Civil War and how it ended. Clayton's book deals with the Unionists of the  First Louisiana Cavalry, First Alabama Cavalry, and Thirteenth Tennessee Union Cavalry and examines why these men chose to ally themselves with the North and African Americans during the war. All that and much more on this edition of Parallax Views!